Aaron Purcell-Pilgrim confident Corner Brook Barons can compete with best in Atlantic Canada

Aaron Purcell-Pilgrim is seen in action with the Corner Brook Barons AA midget baseball team earlier this summer at St. Pat's Ballpark in St. John's. - Contributed

Posing with the championship trophy at Jubilee Field with a group of guys he spent a lot of time on the baseball field over the years.

The boys in blue hugging and giving each other high-fives like there was no tomorrow.

Being able to win an Atlantic championship before the end of a minor baseball career that allowed him to grow as a person, meet new people and test his baseball skillset against the best from coast to coast.

That would be the storyline Aaron Purcell-Pilgrim would like see come to fruition after the Corner Brook Barons host the 2018 Atlantic 18U AA male baseball championship being held this weekend at Jubilee Field.

The Barons will compete in a single round-robin affair that also features the Mount Pearl Blazers (Newfoundland and Labrador), Cardigan Clippers (Prince Edward Island) and the Hants North Jays (Nova Scotia).

Pilgrim-Purcell, the 18-year-old ace of the Barons pitching staff, is pretty pumped about being afforded a chance to win an Atlantic baseball title on home turf before he graduates to the junior ranks next season.

“The atmosphere should be buzzing for sure,” Purcell-Pilgrim said earlier this week.

The Barons won the provincial AA midget baseball tournament last week and Purcell-Pilgrim is beaming with confidence when he thinks about his team’s chances of winning it all. He knows the best players in the competing provinces will be on the field so he knows it will be pretty intense baseball and everybody will be a formidable opponent, but he believes in his teammates and considers his team a contender.

“This is the best Barons team I’ve played on so I’m pretty confident going into it,” he said. “A championship would be awesome. We are very capable of winning this championship.”

A leftie on the hill, Purcell-Pilgrim will get the ball for one of the weekend games and all that matters to him is having a strong start where he gives his team a chance to be competitive.

His plan is to throw strikes on a consistent basis and let the guys behind him come up with the plays they should make and that’s all he’s going to focus on when he’s the guy with the ball.

“I need to have a quality start where I’m throwing strikes and pitching to contact,” he said.